Method of and apparatus for making welding rods



GEORGE 31% BY METHOD OF AND'APPARATUS FOR MAKING WELDING RODS OriginalFiled Aug. 14,

2 grooves.

25 more difficult by their use.

Patented Dec. 21,1937

PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING WELDING RODS George T.Southgate, Forest Hills, and James G.

, Nicolson, Niagara Falls, N. Y., assignors, by

mcsne assignments, to Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation, a.corporation of New York Application August 14, 1934, Serial No. 739,748Renewed May 7, 1937 15 Claims.

The present invention relates to welding rods or wires, and moreparticularly to methods of and means for the continuous coating, shapingand drying of wire to be used as filler metal in fusion welding by theoxyacetylene, electric are, or

other welding processes.

Welding rods or wires have been proposed heretofore which consist ofsubstantially elliptical or dumb-bell shape in transverse section.

0 It has also been proposed to apply an oxide or other coating uponcircular welding rods, or upon the rounded portion of a partly circularwelding rod.

Welding rods such as described or proposed heretofore sufler from thedisadvantage that they do not combine the possibility of efficientelectrically conductive contact with acurrentcarrying member, with thepossibility of ready visibility to the operator when welding withinFurthermore, these welding rods do not lend themselves to holding theare effectively or symmetrically (as in electric welding). The controlof the welding puddle and the production of perfect or satisfactorywelds are rendered Also, as far as applicants are aware, there is nomethod of nor apparatus for manufacturing such or similar electrodes 'inan efficient and continuous manner.

An object of this invention is to provide a 30 method and apparatus forproducing a welding wire shaped in such a manner as to enable aneificient electrically conductive metal-to-metal contact between aportion of the surface of the wire and an electrically conductive memberor 35 element of an automatic or other welding machine.

Another object of this invention is to provide an apparatus adapted foraltering the shape of a wire, coating 2. portion of the surface of the 0wire, and drying the coated wire, in a continuous succession ofoperative steps.

These and other objects of the invention are accomplished, in accordancewith this invention, by providing a method and automatically and 4,5continuously operating means for producing a welding rod in which twocoated and transversely curved longitudinally continuous surfaceportions are spaced by two bare longitudinally continuous surfaceportions.

forms the subject matterof copending application Serial No. 100,418,filed September 12, 1936.

The novel and characteristic features of our invention are set forthwith particularity in the 55 appended claims. The invention itself,however,

The welding rod pro- Y 50 duced by the present method and apparatusrolls I4, one on each side of the wire ll.

both as to its organization and its mode of operation, together withadditional objects and advantages thereof, may be better understood fromthe following description of a specific embodiment thereof, and of themethod of its operation, when read with reference to the accompanyingdrawing in which:

Figure 1 schematically represents an appara tus for simultaneouslycoating, shaping and drying any desired type of weld wire;

Figure 2 represents a cross-section along line 2-42 of the weld wireshown in Figure l, and

Figure 3 represents a cross-section of a modified type of weld wire.

The apparatus shown in the drawing comprises upper and lower wire reelsl0 and M respectively, preferably of metal, and intermediate these reels9. dipping trough I 2 and a pair of cylindrical flattening rolls I4driven in any conventional manner. The wire I3 is unwound from the lowerreel ll, passed upwardly through the gland or stufiing box 9 of dippingor coating tank l2 and is wound upon the upper reel l0 which is alsodriven by suitable means, such as a belted connection to the drivingmeans (not shown) provided for the flattening rolls l4. Preferably,there is some degree of slippage between the rate of drive of the rollsand that of the upper reel to compensate for the changing periphery ofthe coil of wire as it piles up on the reel. A source of electriccurrent is provided at I5 which is connected into a circuit includingswitch l6, conductors l'l, roll I4, wire l3, and contact rollers l8.This circuit,

when closed by switch 16, causes electric current to flow through theportion of wire l3 which at any given instant is comprised between rollsH and contact rollers l8, of a magnitude sumcient to complete the dryingbefore each increment of the'wire reaches the upper reel II. The upperor auxiliary rolls I 8 may serve not only for the upper conductiveconnection but also, through suitable mechanism of familiar type, forguiding the wire into a neat lay upon the reel, thus forming a. compactcoil thereon. The wire may be left on the upper reel ID forshipment anduse, or the reel may be made collapsible and the coil of wireaccumulated thereupon removed and prepared for shipment as by wrappingwith paper. A pair of soft pads 20 are arranged above the dippingorcoating vat I2 and below the flattening These pads are adjusted anddisposed to wipe off from the lateral peripheral portions of the wireabout to be flattened, the coating liquid which would otherwise becomedeposited upon the rolls. To

supplement these lateral wire-wipers there are provided a. pair ofroll-wipers 22 pressing against 'the periphery of the two flatteningrolls, in order to remove any coating liquid which might escape thewire-wipers in the lateral zones of the fiattelling;

The operation or the apparatus for the siinuitaneous localized coating,flattening and dry ing of weld wire is as follows:

The apparatus is started by starting the rotation of the rolls is in thedirection shown by the arrows. A wire, such as wire it, having beenpreviously wound upon reel ii, is partly unwound from the reel, passedthrough the gland 9 of the coating tank it where it is covered withcoating material Ell; then it is passed through the pads fill-and isbrought into engagement first with the flattening rolls Ml, and thenwith the contact rollers it. At this moment switch it is closed, wherebythe portion of the wire between rolls M and i8 is heated and dried. Thewire 03 is then brought into engagement with rotating reel Hi and woundthereupon.

The process rand apparatus described may be used for coating of weldingwire with various types of coating material, including oxides, salts,metal powders, fibrous materials, organic substances, mineral or otherpowders suspended or dissolved in water, alcohol, ethylene dichloride,carbon tetrachloride, and/or any other sumciently volatile liquid. Thecoating bath should preferably be made up as a rather viscous slurry,and may contain in solution or suspension, glue, resins, or othercementitious materials which when dried will impart strong bondingproperty to the. coating. The coating and drying may proceed at anydesired rapid rate, such as 60 it. per minute, for example. Theoperation of the invention may be effected in multiple, i. e. with anumber of wires drawn through the same bath and rolls, but taken from orcarried to individual supply reels and receiving reels, and providedwith electric heating circuits connected in parallel.

The product made in accordance with this invention has certainsubstantial advantages over welding wire previously made. The flattenedshape of the wire lends itself to greater visibility tothe operator,especially in welding within deep grooves, and thus assists him inholding the arc (in electric welding), controlling the puddle, andperfecting the quality of the deposit. The bare flat surfaces of thewire are particularly useful for conductive-electric connection infeeding the wire through automatic arc-welding,machines,,and are helpfuleven in maniiakwelding in giving quick connection by clamping withordinary pliers. P

Figure 2 represents a cross-section of a fiattened wire produced byusing smooth cylindrical shaping rolls. The coating material is shown at27 and the flattened contact-providing surfaces at 2B. A preferred weldwire of this type is one in which the major axis bears a relation to theminor axis of about 1 to By using a pair of shaping rolls having aprofiled periphery it is possible to obtain a weld wire in which thebare contact providing surface carries one or two projections or ridgessuch as shown in Figure 3. This shape of the contact surface has theadvantage of providing guiding contact ridges 3| for accurately aligningthe wire when passing'it through the welding head of an automaticarc-welding machine. 02 even greater importance, these ridges serve asimgroans proved 'me'ahs of electric contact as the wire passes throughan automatic welding head, in that they may be pressed tightly withoutinjury to the coating, and may be operated at high current density.

We claim:

1. In combination, means for coating a wire with a material adapted toform an adhesive coat' containing a viscous coating material adapted tobe traversed by the wire to coat said wire, means for removing thecoating material along opposite lateral portions of the wire, a pair ofrollers adapted to flatten the said lateral portions, and means fordrying the coating material remaining on said wire.

3. In combination, means for coating a wire with a material adapted toform an adhesive coat when dried, means for removing a portion of saidcoat at substantially diametrically opposite longitudinal portionsthereof prior to the drying of the coating material, rotary means forreducing the cross-section of said wire in a direction perpendicular tothe portions from which the coating has been removed and for producingridges upon the wire in said portions.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which the means for drying thecoating material upon the wire include an electrical circuit, wherebythe wire is heated "to the desired temperature by virtue of its inherentelectrical resistance to the flow of current therein.

5. An apparatus adapted for the automatic manufacture of partly coatedweld wire, comprising in combination a lower and an upper wire reel, thelower reel being adapted to carry a supply of wire blank and the upperwire reel being adapted to receive the finished product, a receptaclecontaining a supply of coating material, a pair of flattening rollersadapted to propel said wire through said receptacle to coat said wire,means for removing the coating material from opposite portions of saidwire, surface shaping means including said flattening rolls adapted toengage said wire at its bare portions and to transform its cross-sectioninto one having a major and a minor axis, a secondpair of rolls, andmeans cooperative with both pairs of rolls for rapidly drying thecoating upon said wire prior to its beingkwound upon said upper wire"reel.

p, 6. Apparatus for the continuous coating and shaping of wire to beused as filler metal in welding processes, which comprises thecombination of means for covering the wire with a coating ma terial;means for removing at least a portion of the coating material fromdiametrically opposite sides of such wire; and means for flattening suchwire at the sides from which coating material has been removed.

7. Apparatus for the continuous coating and shaping of wire to be usedas a filler metal in welding processes, which comprises the combine gtion of means for covering the wire with a coating material; means forremoving a portion of the coating material from the surface of saidwire; and means for flattening such uncoated surface.

8. Apparatus for the continuous coating and shaping of wire to be usedas a filler metal in welding processes, which comprises the combinationof means for covering the wire with a coating material; means forremoving a portion of the coating material from the surface of saidwire; and means for shaping such uncoated surface so as to provide amore effective contacting and feeding portion thereon.

9. Apparatus as defined in claim 2 in which the flattening rollers areadapted to produce at least one ridge upon one flattened lateral portionof said wire.

10. The process of making a weld wire, which comprises altering thecross-section of said wire to a partly rectangular shape the smallestsides of which are rounded, and covering the rounded sides of said wirewith a coating material. V

11. The process of making a. weld wire which comprises covering a wirewith a coating material, removing said material from diametricallyopposing sides of said wire; exerting pressure upon said bare sides tosubstantially flatten said wire, and rapidly drying said coatingmaterial upon said wire.

12. Process as defined in claim 11 in which the rapid drying process iseffected by the passage of electric current through at least a portionof said wire.

13. A process of making a welding wire having a coating material thereonwhich comprises applying coating material, dissolved or susupended in a.volatile liquid, to successive portions of a bare welding wire in suchmanner as to leave a bare portion longitudinally of the wire; passing aheating electric current through successive coated portions of the wireto dry the coating material thereon; and conducting said current to saidwire through spaced contacts hearing against said bare portion.

1a. A. process of making a coated welding wire which comprises applyingcoating material, dis solved or suspended in a volatile liquid, tosuccessive portions of a welding wire; and passing a heating electriccurrent through successive portions of said wire to dry the coatingmaterial thereon.

15. A proces of making a coated welding wire which comprises applyingcoating material, dissolved or suspended in a volatile liquid, tosuccessive portions of a welding wire; and electrically heating suchwire to dry the coating material thereon.

' GEORGE T. SOU'I'HGATE.

JAMES G. NICOLSON.

